Researchers are now thinking differently on the potential for colonizing Mars.

By the time oxygenic photosynthesis evolved on Earth, Mars had been a hyperarid, frozen desert with a surface bombarded by high-energy solar and cosmic radiation for more than a billion years, and as a result, photosynthetic surface life may never have occurred on Mars. Nature Geoscience

Their abstract leads on to suggest that our scientists should focus research below ground and search for evidence of life in the hydrothermal environment that NASA now think exists following NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit discovery in 2008.

Should these theories be proved, it is thought that colonization of our nearest planet could be supported underground.

Perhaps we should explore that concept closer to home first?

Mars Exploration Rover Spirit

In 2008, NASA scientists found signs that water may have existed on Mars in hydrothermal vents similar to those discovered in 1977 near the Galapagos Islands. If confirmed, these vents could have the potential for preserved traces of life.

Hydrothermal vents

“Scientists first discovered hydrothermal vents in 1977 while exploring an oceanic spreading ridge near the Galapagos Islands. To their amazement, the scientists also found that the hydrothermal vents were surrounded by large numbers of organisms that had never been seen before.”